Behold a giant is awakening in the South

Communion with Bishop Lazarus

GOD is great! It is that time of the year again when Bishop Lazi retreats to the mountains to regenerate both physically, mentally and spiritually.

Yes, it is a time to have intimate conversations with the Creator, thanking him for the gift and grace of life and being, as well as visions of the future.

After the El Niño phenomenon last year, which resulted in pitiably low harvests, scant pastures for livestock and low water levels in rivers and dams, 2024 was expectedly tough.

It meant we had to redirect resources to provide food relief to parched and food-insecure communities, which were many.

It also meant we had to sparingly use the fast-dwindling water in Kariba by reducing allocations for power generation, resulting in an inexorable punishing load-shedding regime. And remember, we had to grapple with all this at a time when we were already smarting from the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, which, according to the World Bank, triggered the largest global economic crisis in more than a century.

In essence, the pandemic and its consequences, such as economic dislocation, rising global inflation, lockdowns and frustration with politicians, had the adverse effect of exacerbating already existing fragilities in various countries.

They say the post-Covid world is now as militarily dangerous as at any time since the Cold War. For instance, ever since Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, hostilities between Moscow and Kyiv (a proxy of the United States-led NATO) continue to grind on, with the latter now clearly losing the war of attrition.

But with Donald Trump — who is less enamoured to both the regime in Kyiv and an interventionist foreign policy — set to take over on January 20 next year, we might see de-escalation and finally an end to the war.

Despite the propaganda, Vladimir Putin’s Russia, whose troops have since captured a fifth of Ukraine and recently broken through this country’s heavily fortified defences, has proved the redoubtable power of its military.

The deployment of a new medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile on targets in Ukraine last month emphatically delivered the message of Moscow’s capabilities.

However, the world, which was now seemingly on the precipice of World War III, will benefit more from the cessation of hostilities.

The blood- and oil-soaked Middle East remains another major flashpoint that could set the world on fire.

It has not known peace largely because of its oil and gas, which are desperately needed to oil (no pun intended) economies in the West.

But the dynamics in the region have significantly changed after Hamas’ audacious attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 set off a chain of events that have since resulted in the genocidal destruction of the Gaza Strip and slaughter of 45 000 Palestinians; the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on September 27 this year and continued bombardment of Lebanon; the killing of Hamas’ leader Yahya Sinwar on October 16; as well as the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

All this has rewritten the power dynamics in the Middle East, particularly with Israel having delivered a seemingly mortal blow on critical members of the Axis of Resistance — Hamas and Hezbollah.

It leaves the two main adversaries — Israel and Iran — in a dangerous stare down, at least for now. However, after these belligerents traded a volley of missiles in October, the Bishop does not see any further confrontation, as it is in neither’s best interests.

Ongoing conflicts, elevated geopolitical tensions and the continued sabre rattling had the adverse impact of slowing global economic growth. Unfortunately, all these pressures were brought to bear on our own fragile resource-dependent economies, especially in a region already reeling from the El Niño-induced drought.

Wisdom is better than silver and gold

For us in the teapot-shaped Republic, it could have been catastrophic if we did not have wise leadership.

Proverbs 16 verse 16 says: “How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver.”

Proverbs 4:6-7 adds: “Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it costs all you have, get understanding.”

If ED had not secured that loan from China to construct Hwange Power Station’s Units 7 and 8, which have added 600 megawatts (MW) to the grid, load-shedding would have been unimaginably worse.

If ED had not worked wonders in agriculture over the past six years, which has recently manifested in the record 563 000 tonnes of wheat output this year, the situation in communities would have been dire, especially considering that we experienced the worst drought in 43 years in the 2023/2024 season.

And if ED had also not assiduously worked to attract investments in mining, among other critical sectors, our economy would have floundered in sympathy with the deteriorating global economy. Yet our exports continued to scale record highs, rising to US$5,37 billion in the January to September period this year, which is US$170 million more than the US$5,2 billion realised in the same period last year.

At a time when prices for some commodities, such as platinum group metals and lithium, were depressingly low, our earnings from the mining sector rose to US$4,2 billion in the same period, up from US$4,1 billion a year ago.

This remarkable performance pushed our overall foreign currency receipts to US$10 billion from US$8,5 billion last year.

Imagine how we would have fared had platinum and lithium prices been as favourable as they ordinarily have been over the last years.

Our economy would have been flying.

Looking into the crystal ball

So, this is why Bishop Lazi, just like everyone else in this part of the world, will be taking time in the mountains, praying for decent rains.

Good rains will replenish our water bodies, guaranteeing a critical resource for the success of our agriculture, and provide pastures for our livestock. With the Zambezi River Authority, buoyed by predictions of normal to above-normal rains, having allocated 27 billion cubic metres of water to both Zimbabwe and Zambia for power generation in 2025 — relatively more than the 16 billion cubic metres for this year — this will hopefully increase local electricity supplies.

We, however, have more than enough contingencies through work on repowering Hwange Thermal Power Station’s Units 1-6, as well as a new 700MW thermal power plant being constructed by Titan New Energy, in partnership with the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa).

Additional solar power plants have also been lined up. A lot is going on and the future is literally bright.

What is also comforting is the fact that, without being encumbered by the need to import extra electricity and food, resources will naturally be channelled to give impetus to the ongoing modernisation and industrialisation drive.

The signature projects to watch next year are Lake Gwayi-Shangani and Kunzvi Dam, which, all things being equal, are set to be completed. The continued ramp-up of production at the Dinson Iron and Steel Company’s plant in Manhize will also be interesting.

In the political sphere, new governments in the US and the United Kingdom, spawned by this year’s election cycles, will materially shape the outlook for 2025.

It could go either way for the world economy, particularly with an anti-war but highly protectionist Trump administration.

But one thing is for certain: With a Labour government in power, our journey to rejoin the Commonwealth, which was imminent, might suddenly become arduous.

We will just hope for the best but expect the worst. One invaluable lesson we have learnt in the past seven years is not to expect favours from anyone but pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.

Zimbabwe’s rise is irrepressible.

Brick upon brick, stone upon stone, ED continues to build a modern new Zimbabwe.

If you do not see it by now, then you are irredeemably naïve.

Behold the giant is awakening.

2025 will be a relatively good year.

Wishing you happy holidays.

Bishop out!